Winry's Time Journey
by DarkHonour
Summary: ON INDEFINITE HIATUS In the aftermath of an encounter with the criminal Scar, Winry Rockbell is somehow transported to prewar Ishbal, a chance to investigate. However, she encounters someone...
1. The Girl Who Transcended Time

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **After going through much consideration, I decided to delete my original story and re-create this fantasy story that has the Scar X Winry pairing inside. With many thanks to FFX fanfic storylines, of course. (Aurikku fanfic common plots)

**DISCLAIMER: **I will never try to oppose Hiromu Arakawa in owning the Fullmetal Alchemist characters! So all of them don't belong to me unless the original characters which I create but are way too insignificant.

**NOTE: **This is a slight AU, so it may not follow the manga or anime at some parts of the story. Please bear with it, thank you.

* * *

**THE GIRL WHO TRANSCENDED TIME**, an xXredEMPTionXx fanfiction story

_**JOURNEY ONE: NEVER KNOWING HIS NAME**_

Winry Rockbell pointed the gun at the famous criminal known all over Amestris, the one who had a famous scar on his forehead. In front of her was also Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist who had been surprised at his childhood friend suddenly turning extreme into pointing a gun at the criminal.

"Winry!" Ed called out to her as he stationed in a battle position to fight Scar. "Don't shoot!"

The young Rockbell's mind was full of confusion. She was at a loss of what to do except to point the pistol at the criminal. If she shot at him, he would be killed and she could avenge her parents who were reportedly killed by this dangerous Ishbalan. If she did not attempt to kill him, he would get away scot-free and she would have done her parents injustice.

"Don't shoot, Winry!" Al, also known as Alphonse Elric, called out to her from the other end.

"The daughter of the two doctors from Ishbal?" Scar suddenly spoke out as he shifted his red pupils to look at the country girl. Winry gave a slight drawback in her sapphire eyes. "You have the right to kill me."

Winry's eyes widened as she heard the words coming out of Scar's mouth. She continued to hold a tightened grasp on the gun. She was speechless too, her mind confused with both fear and confusion. To shoot or not to shoot, only these two choices kept ringing in her mind.

"But if you shoot me," Scar continued. "I'll consider you my enemy."

"Winry, don't shoot!" Ed shouted to her as he turned his eyes back to the Ishbalan terrorist to prepare for a difficult battle. "Whatever it is, just don't shoot!"

"Scar!" She shouted out abruptly at the Ishbalan whose eyes turned to catch her attention. He was still standing there calmly without being intimidated by the gun pointing at him at all. "WHY? Why? Of all people, why my parents? Didn't they save your people as well?"

He closed his eyes and remained silent again. Turning his body to face the Rockbell, Scar reopened his eyes and spread his arms. She was startled at what the Ishbalan was going to do, especially when he was not going to defend himself from the shot if she fired it.

"Shoot me if you want," he gave a quick array of words. The Ishbalan raised his head up and closed his eyes. "If that is what you wish to avenge your parents, Winry Rockbell. It's time I seen enough of you."

"Seen enough of me?" Winry's eyes widened as she lowered the gun and stood up to face him. "I don't get what you mean." She took brief steps to begin her walk towards him, footstep by footstep.

"Don't get near him, Winry!" She heard Ed's voice call out to her, but ignored it to approach Scar. He reopened his red eyes and looked down at the teenager from Reseembool. The wind blew as it shuffled his white hair and Winry's flowing golden ponytail. The two looked at each other for a brief moment.

"_Bouzu_," Scar looked at Winry who was a head shorter than him. "Can you remember that?" The Rockbell shook her head in response. "Winry Rockbell, you don't seem to age at all. Why is that so?"

"What do you mean?" The golden-haired girl questioned his peculiar speech. She looked up at him to face his calm and expressionless face. "Why are you asking me these things when we haven't met before?" At that instant, Scar's pupils contracted to reveal his shocked state. The young Rockbell was undaunted by his look but just confused at Scar's use of seemingly figurative language.

"Winry, duck!" She heard Ed's voice from behind. She turned to see that Ed had begun his ambush on Scar. It was too late, for his automail leg kicked her to the left in which her head hit a certain piece of rock on the debris created by the battle earlier where she fell into a deep state of unconsciousness.

---------------------------------------------------

Winry Rockbell had regained consciousness by the constant pushing of someone. Her eyes were still closed, but she heard a male teenage voice calling out to her loudly. She opened her eyes to see a boy of somewhat brownish hair with dark skin and red eyes.

"Miss, are you alright?" He asked her politely. Her eyes now fully open to see that the boy was wearing a rather strange outfit belonging to people staying in the eastern arid regions. Winry took a closer look at the boy, oblivious of his scary red eyes. Her eyes came closer to look at the boy who had a sudden startled look. "Are you okay?"

"You look like an Ishbalan," she replied back at him where the boy had crept back away from her sudden action of getting close to him.

"This place is Ishbal!" He had a rather uptight tone in his voice from the strange girl he had just saw unconscious minutes ago. "But you don't look like an Ishbalan though. Your blue eyes do look scary..."

"How on earth did I get here anyway?" She closed and opened her eyes as she got up from the dirty ground. She looked around to see that she had been unconscious in an alley between two grey stone houses. Turning back to see the Ishbalan boy, she was a little taller than him. "Is there any form of transport, boy?"

"Camels," his sudden reply gave WInry an anti-climax, who was expecting a better form of transport. "We do have plenty here."

"I can't ride a camel," she answered back. "Don't you have any trains or anything like that?"

"What's a trains?"

Winry was surprised at his answer. "Isn't the military here or something?" She questioned him who was rather confused at her words.

"What military?" He responded. "We Ishbalans don't maintain armies!"

The Rockbell knew that it was quite difficult to return back; judging from the way the boy had described the situation which was a little strange. From Ed telling her, the military had not withdrawn from Ishbal yet and it was strange that Ishbal was rather populated with people too. It must have been an Ishbalan camp instead of the real home. She knew that only one person must have brought her here after she had lost consciousness. But it was rather strange that the Ishbalan terrorist had just dropped her off in an alley.

"Hey boy," she turned her head back to see the budding teenager. His outfit was still funny looking and his hairstyle of a bush was quite amusing too. "You have any idea of where Scar is?"

"Who's Scar? I never heard of him before." The boy replied back. "Maybe my _nii-san _can help you with all these peculiar questions. He knows much of the world, and it's getting dark soon." Winry was surprised to hear that Scar was not famous in this community of Ishbalans. She had heard from Ed and Al that he was celebrated as a hero among the Ishbalan refugees in the camps. Unable to go anyway, Winry could only follow the Ishbalan boy who had started to walk.

It was not long before Winry had followed him to a nearby brownish-grey rectangular house. The rest of the neighbourhood also had houses of the same design and color too. "Are all the houses of the same design?" She looked around before turning back to him.

"Yes they are," he replied back in a few words. "We're in a city after all." The boy began to knock on the wooden door that covered the doorway of the house. "What's your name, miss?"

"Winry Rockbell," she replied back while the two of them waited for a reply. "What about yours?"

"I can't tell my name to foreigners," he gave a reply back to her, which made her irritated with a dark look in her eyes. "It's forbidden by Ishbala."

"What kind of lame logic is that?" She argued back at him as he waited patiently at the door although there was no response. "After all, you're not some big shot, only just some easterner beanboy!" For once, she began to think that she was treating the Ishbalan boy just like Ed.

"Who're you calling beanboy, beanpole?" He quarreled back with her as he looked at her.

"I dare you to say that again!" Winry became irritated at his petty response just like how she interacted with Ed. "You behave just like my neighbour!"

"Beanpole."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Winry reopened her eyes to see that it was already night and had been shook vigourously by someone to her right. She turned to her right to see a dark-skinned man of reddish-brown hair with black-framed spectacles that magnified his red eyes. Winry gave a sigh of relief as someone deserving had finally came to save her instead of someone strange like a boy her age who could not take such simple jokes.

Somehow this boy resembled Ed to a certain extent. Winry thought in her mind as she turned her head to see the adolescent Ishbalan kneeling on the floor and clasping his hands in a small chant.

"Are you okay, stranger from Amestris?" She heard a fairly deep voice question her as her eyes returned to meet the eyes of the older man.

"You know where I came from?"

"It is pretty obvious," he straightened his back and revealed a woman of dark hair behind him. "The Westerners have varied colours of the hair and eyes. It's no wonder my brother could easily notice you in a dark alley. What were you doing there?"

"I…I have no idea," Winry sat up on the bed and placed a hand to her forehead. "My mind's been fuzzy ever since I woken up…Many things have happened since I arrived here…"

"You seem tired," his face expression changed to show a more kindly look with the less scary look of his red eyes. "You were fast asleep to the extent that you didn't realize us coming back at all. And let me introduce to you my girlfriend." He brought the woman behind him who had a thick scarf over her head, which was covered with wavy, dark chocolate-coloured hair.

"Hello Ms Rockbell," the Ishbalan woman sat down on the bed and looked at her. "Stay with us until you found any ways to return home." Winry assumed that the boy must have told his future sister-in-law her name.

"What is he doing?" She shifted her gaze to that of the boy who had knelt down in a chant incomprehensible to the Rockbell. Winry continued to stay at the 'ritual' for a few more seconds.

"He's praying to Ishbala our god," she replied back in a soft tone as she turned back to look at Winry. "It is common for Ishbalan boys to do such a prayer each day. I suppose you have no religion from where you come from."

"My grandmother…" Winry changed her stare to her lap which was covered with a white woolen blanket. "…she once told me about an ancient religion practised back then. It somehow died out along the way after people exposed it to be a big lie." The Ishbalan couple stood beside her now to hear with interest about the destruction of religion in the West.

"Perhaps you should rest for now," the bespectacled man spoke suddenly after a long silence. "I'll ask my little brother to take care of you for now." Winry nodded her head as she gave a tacit message to let them leave the room.

"Miss," the boy came to her as she was about to sleep. "I'm going to turn off the light and return to my room." He was about to leave when he felt a hand wrap around his arm. He turned around to show a startled expression to Winry.

"Don't turn off the light," she spoke to him firmly. "I'm not really favourable of the dark." He turned his head back and nodded. Letting go of the girl's hand, he began to walk back to his room in the distance which was a door less opening in one side of the wall.

"Hey, _bouzu_," she called out to him once again. He turned his head to see the Rockbell. "Thank you." She presented her gratitude to the Ishbalan family who had agreed to take her in for the time being while she tried to clarify the sudden mess of events that had all happened in just a blink of the eye.

"What exactly is going on?" She whispered to herself as she looked at the room around her. It was definitely large, which probably meant she was actually sleeping in the living room. Of course, there was no guest room which was probably not needed for a culture of people who seldom have sleepovers probably. "It can't really be that I have somehow gone back in time to Ishbal before the so-called conflict…alchemy exists but time-travel does not…"

Or was it? Her eyes widened to look around. If she was in pre-war Ishbal, the people would not look that weary and they would not detest people from Amestris like they do after the conflict. Winry decided to forget all what she had just thought of and fell back on her straw bed to enter a deep sleep.

Her mind was only filled with the idea of finding out the names of the Ishbalan family.

Meanwhile, a dark figure traveled over the city of Ishbal as it crossed the dark alleys of the sleeping city. It got up onto one roof to see the entire place filled with stone and mud houses with a large glowing building at the far end.

"The temple of Ishbal, huh?" The figure sneered as his eyes focused on the building.

* * *

**GLOSSARY: **

_Bouzu _– something like a young boy or brat  
_Nii-san_ – older brother in Japanese

(I somehow decided to add some Japanese terms in this story although I know it's quite wrong because even the original world of Fullmetal Alchemist had the language of English instead of Japanese.)


	2. A Strange Visitor

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Well, here's the second installment. I've got nothing much to say anyway, so let's start on with the story! Anyway, find out for yourself how this story relates to the main story anyway. I know some people only read FMA fanfictions just for the sake of the alchemy battles involved! XP

**NOTE: **The boy will have a fictional name here. So it's not REAL!

* * *

_JOURNEY TWO: A STRANGE VISITOR_

Previously…

_Winry Rockbell was at a scene where the Elric brothers had intercepted the infamous criminal Scar. She is surprised to find out that Scar actually knows her. And when she falls unconscious, she wakes up to find herself in a completely new place with a boy she doesn't even know who finds her. Now she is on her way to finding out the place…the Ishbal region…_

Winry regained her consciousness. She had not opened her eyes but could tell that the sun had risen already. The young Rockbell could feel something of a hot breath blowing across her face. Could some pervert be cozying up to her? She opened her eyes to see what had happened.

"Ahhhh!" She heard a familiar male voice as her blue eyes met that of the red eyes of an Ishbalan. She rose up to see the boy from yesterday had been looking close to her face all of this time. He had fallen back onto the ground, rubbing his back from the sudden fall he had taken. "That smarts, _oneechan_."

"Who's your _oneechan_, _bouzu_?" She folded her arms and started haranguing the boy on the floor. As she landed her foot on the hard floor, the boy stood up once again. "Don't you have school or something like that?"

"I…I'm running late," he replied back to her. The Ishbalan had a sling bag made of some animal felt, carrying something seemingly heavy. "I need you to take care of this house." Winry took a small step back. She had barely arrived yesterday, and this so-called Ishbalan family was entrusting the upkeep of the house to her.

"I'm off, please thank you!" He exclaimed as he went out of the doorway.

"Wait!" Winry chased after him, but it was too late. He had gone and was nowhere in sight in the far-off busy and crowded street filled with people and sandy dust. "For a young person, he's really fit…" She sighed to herself as she turned behind to see the interior of the house of the Ishbalan family.

"Well…time to get to work," she spoke to herself and retied her ponytail into a higher arching one. The Rockbell took a piece of cloth on a table and tied around her mouth. "It looks like this house really needs some cleaning……and repairing." Her eyes, with the instinct of a mechanic, caught the sight of a broken down table.

----------------------------------------------------

Bouzu came running down the street back to the house. After all, he could not trust a complete stranger to attend to the house as what his brother had warned him before leaving the house. His religious class was over and he had to run back to his home from the temple of Ishbala.

He reopened the fragile wooden door to see a shocking sight within. The house had been completely cleaned with not a speck of dirt in sight. It was highly incomprehensible how a girl like her could manage to clean the house by herself when it seemed difficult to clean the heavy clutter within.

"Hi _bouzu_," Winry came up to him, with a flannel tied over her head. "You're back so fast?" She gave a warm smile as she walked along the room, holding a large earthen pot. He only stood there speechless, with the sling bag still swinging along his shoulder.

"How…how did you do it?" He questioned her as his red eyes traveled to hers. "Are people from the West as efficient as you?"

"Well…no," she replied back before returning to arrange the items in the house. "It's just that I'm an automail engineer, so efficiency is needed to ensure that I can allow an automail to work efficiently…" Her words trailed off as pictures of Ed began to fill her mind again. After all, his automail arm and leg were the symbol of her masterpiece.

"What's wrong?" He questioned her again at the listless look of Winry.

"Nothing…" She got back to her senses and smiled back at him. "Just some memories."

"What's your this so-called automail?"

"Oh," she wondered for a while, placing a finger on her chin. "It's something to replace a limb lost from accidents or war. And it's much stronger and faster than a human one." She returned to her housework, while humming away.

"I see," the both of them heard a strange voice coming from the open door way. They turned to see a figure in black with a dark scarf wrapped around the head. "So it's really true you're from Amestris."

"Who are you?" _Bouzu _demanded from the dark figure. The figure raised up its hat to reveal a woman's face with black eyes and lips. "I heard from my master. You're the so-called exile of Ishbal!"

"Exile?" Winry took a step back before _Bouzu _came in front of her.

"Winry Rockbell," the woman spoke out as she looked straight at her eyes. "I suppose your flow of time is somehow different from the people here." The Rockbell gave a gasp as she looked at the exile with fear.

"Fear not," the exile gave a sinister smile which made the boy more aggressive at attempting to drive her away. "I'll help you return home, only if you do something for me."

"What is it you want me to do?" Winry replied back, with a little tremble in her tone.

"Think of an object, clap your hands, and slam them across this ground," the woman demanded as her eyes widened to force her mentally to do so.

"Wait…that sounds familiar…" Winry questioned back. "Isn't that what…"

"…Edward Elric does?" The exile completed her sentence making Winry more suspicious of her. "That's right. Alchemy without an alchemic array. I want you to do it." Her mind began to search of reasons not to do so.

"But…but…" she crept closer to the Ishbalan who was protecting her. "…I have not seen the truth! Ed has seen it. He can do it, that's why!"

"Just do it, Ms Rockbell!" The exile ordered her with a raised tone. Winry nodded and closed her eyes. Her mind began to find the shape of a certain object. Slowly as she could, her hands clapped together in a sharp impact.

"What are you doing, _oneechan_?" _Bouzu _questioned her as soon as she had clapped her hands together. It was too quick for she rapidly slammed her hands onto the ground. Within a split second, the ground broke open as pillars rose up to form a certain object. WInry opened her eyes with an angered look.

"Brilliant," the exile spoke from the stone cage of hers. "So your family does carry the blood ability of those who do not need a transmutation circle. But I can do that too." She clapped her hands and pressed them against the stone cage, which slowly melted back into the ground again.

"W-what's the meaning of this?" Winry exclaimed as she looked at her own hands, which could suddenly do alchemy all of a sudden. It was something her grandmother had forbidden her to do after all, ever since the atrocities of the war in Ishbal. As she remembered of the Ishbal conflict, many memories began flowing back into her which made her give out a small gasp.

She began to remember back when the battle with Scar had made her unconscious where she awakened in old Ishbal. Her blue eyes shifted to see the concerned eyes of the Ishbalan. His arms were on her shoulders now, where she had become deep in thought. His young face, somehow, shifted to be a blurred visage of Scar.

"Are you okay?" He shook her who had knelt on the ground.

"Kukukukuku," the exile spoke as she lowered the scarf, covering her eyes. She turned behind to exit the house. "Now I have found something important. I shall take my leave now." She laughed evilly as she left the house with a shocked Winry and an angered _Bouzu_.

--------------------------------------------------------

The Rockbell reopened her eyes to meet the face of the young Ishbalan. He had brought her back to the bed and tucked her in to let her rest after she had fainted from her shock. "Here's some water," he took a wooden cup to her as she took it in her hands. "Don't believe that woman. She's an exile who is not to be trusted. And…"

"And…what?" Winry looked up to see the boy.

"Don't tell anyone what you just did with those hands," he advised her. "The people here hate the Great Art to the core. It's banned by our religion." He sat on the straw bed next to her.

"_Bouzu_," she placed the wooden cup on her lap. "Thank you." His reaction was the prominent red flushes on his dark cheeks. Winry gave a slight giggle at what had happened. "Why are you always flushing in front of girls?" She questioned him.

"Well…I'm training to be part of the religion," he answered her back with a tone of sincerity. He lowered his head down for a moment. "I'm not supposed to tell any outsiders about it."

"If you called me _oneechan_," Winry spoke back as though she knew him well. "Am I an outsider?" She placed the cup in his hands to return it to him. He looked back up to see a gentle smile by the Westerner.

"Not really…" he spoke back softly. "We've only met for one day, and I'm already treating you like someone close…it isn't appropriate…" He mumbled to himself and rose up. "I'm going to put the cup away." As he turned, he quickly walked away to avoid Winry asking him further. He had a special feeling about her, but he could not comprehend it. The only way was to wait and see what would happen. That only circulated in his complicated mind.

He returned to see her fast asleep. She had been exhausted after the terrible ordeal by the mysterious visitor. Without thinking properly, he raised his hand and suddenly stroked her soft, golden hair. A smile wore across his face. He felt something weird within him, but ignored it.

"Ed…Ed…where are you?" Winry whispered in her sleep as he was stroking her hair. He quickly withdrew, with his eyes surprised at what she was saying. "I'm all alone…I want to go home…" Tears were seeping out of her eyes as she slept soundly once again. Seeing her real emotions, he took a handkerchief from one side and swiped the tears off her face.

"Don't worry," he spoke to the sleeping Rockbell. "I'll help you find this guy called Ed." He slowly walked away, leaving the sleeping Winry on the bed. He did not realize that as soon as he was gone, Winry reopened her eyes to look at his fading back, and the familiar pattern of hair at the back of his head.

"You'll kill my parents in future, won't you, Scar?" She mumbled as she watched him walk deeper into the other side of the room.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

She reopened her eyes to see that it was night. She got up to see that the family was eating away at a nearby table. A silent family they had, she thought up in her mind. It was not before his brother caught her awake in his sight.

"Oh, you're awake," he spoke as he turned to see Winry, who had got up from the bed. "Aldes told me that something bad happened today."

"Who's Aldes?" She was a little confused at what he was saying. Her eyes shifted to see the boy eating very hurriedly, acting as if he had a huge sweat drop on his head.

"Didn't he tell you?" His brother was also surprised. He turned his head to see his brother. "Didn't you tell Ms Rockbell your name?"

"_Niisan_, you said it was not good to tell strangers your name," he defended himself.

"Is she a stranger to us anymore?"

"So she didn't know Aldes' name all the time?" The woman with the scarf rose up to look at Winry. She gave a slight giggle, covering her lower lip with her hand. "Or was he too shy to give his name?"

"Yes," he gave a large gulp. Turning his head to Winry, he showed an expression of attempted braveness. "My name is Aldebalan. It means the follower."

"All the more I have to give you the name _bouzu _then," Winry remarked. "No wonder I had the weird feeling you were some religious person." Aldes had a strange look on his face which made him confused at Winry's seemingly weird response.

"Nothing really, forget about it!" Winry replied back about it after he was unable to understand what she was talking about. Suddenly, her stomach gave a large growl. "Any food for me?" She gave a short chuckle.

The entire family laughed for an entire moment. They were, however, unaware that it won't be long before something would happen to Winry, especially when Aldes had began to know her better…

On one of the rooftops of the many houses in the city of Ishbal stood the female exile with the black scarf stared at the large temple far from the area she stood. Her sinister smile wore across her face as she looked at the full moon, which bathed the sleeping city at night in its moonlight.

"With the help of that girl," she whispered sinisterly to herself. "I shall revive the Great Art. It was a tough time bringing her here after all." She smiled one more time before closing the scarf over her face.

"That's a stupid idea," one of the figures crept up behind her. She turned behind to see a taller man with an Ishbalan's clothing. "Her power is not activated yet. Wait a while more before you take any action. We have no idea how limitless her power can be."

"As if!" She snapped back, looking at the temple once more. "Magnum Superior. Does that power actually exist?"

"We'll have to wait and see."

* * *

**GLOSSARY:**

_Oneechan – big sister_

_Magnum Superior – in my story, this means some item you'll find out later in future!_

(Check out the next chapter in future!)


	3. Messy Situation

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Okay, here's the third episode of this series. I don't really intend to have a lot of chapters for this story, so I'll somehow end this arc sooner or later. Meanwhile, it will be best for you readers to just enjoy this story, okay?

Winry: Hey, when am I gonna' go home?

Redemption: Huh? Since when were you going home?

Winry: What? How dare you! (goes and strangles the author in the studio, the police comes and takes Winry away)

Okay, let's just forget this cold joke. Anyway, on to the story!

**NOTE: **I don't know what to say. Very sorry. ----

* * *

_JOURNEY THREE: MESSY SITUATION_

Previously…

_Winry Rockbell had woken up to see Aldes cosying up to her mysteriously. It proved to be just some curiosity. Winry also discovered that she could do alchemy too and was able to perform it without an alchemic circle, which made it more peculiar. Somehow, someone wishes to uses Winry for some purpose…_

"Where are you bringing me?" WInry questioned as she adjusted the brown scarf wrapped around her head. The temperature was just hot and unbearable in the arid regions of Ishbal. "Wouldn't it be better for me to stay in the house?"

"I have to ask my master about something," he replied back, walking ahead of her without turning back to look. "It's not safe for you to remain at home. There's probably some deep secret surrounding you."

"Your master?"

"My teacher," Aldes answered back. "He'll probably know a thing or two about the Great Art practiced in the past." He was gaining speed as he walked briskly towards the distant large building known as the Temple of Ishbal. Winry stood there for a moment, in awe of the building that stood there.

"Impressive…" she whispered to herself. Buildings back in her hometown were never that tall and even Central did not build such enormous structures. "Would this be destroyed after the Civil Conflict?" She continued to look at the building, oblivious of the fact that her companion had been seeing her for a long time.

"Rockbell," he asked her, touching her for a moment. "Are you okay? Don't Westerners build better structures that our temple?" She shook her head and looked back at him.

"I don't suppose so," she responded to him. "We use alchemy in almost everything, including the construction and maintenance of buildings." She clapped her hands together for a second.

"Don't do that!" He shouted to her suddenly. She looked at him with confusion. "The people are bound to suspect you if you performed…that forbidden art…"

"Well…aren't they already suspecting me?" She rebutted as she showed him the Ishbalan commoners looking at Winry's striking features, especially that of her blue eyes and golden hair, and also her fair skin. "It's your stupid idea to put me in some Ishbalan clothing when I don't look like one myself."

"Sorry," his tone changed all of a sudden. Aldes was not looking at her anymore, which made Winry alarmed at his sudden change of attitude. "I didn't want you to look that prominent after all…"

"Hey, it's okay," Winry replied back, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'll just assume that I'm just too pretty for others to observe me!" She gave a smile to reassure him although he was not responding to it.

"Let's hurry to my master," he only spoke, and turned around to face the direction of the temple.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Balan, you got a girl for yourself?"

Aldes suddenly realized and look to his left as soon as he entered the temple's interior. His eyes met to see another boy with darker brown hair with the robes of an Ishbalan. He was leaning on one pillar, slacking from the temple work. Winry turned to see who had suddenly spoken out.

"Whoa!" The boy was surprised to see his fellow classmate's visitor. "Don't you know the temple rules?"

"I need to see our master," Aldes questioned his friend without interruption. "Where is he?"

"Praying in one of the interior rooms," he replied back, pointing with his thumb the direction. "Why are you so urgent? You want to show him your new girlfriend?"

"Don't be thick," came the sharp reply. "I need to see him for some matters."

"Just admit it," the boy snapped back and patted Aldes' shoulder. "So this is where your taste lies since you don't seem to like any girls." His eyes widened and took a gulp as if it hit nail on his head. "Please to meet you," the boy stretched out a hand to Winry. "I'm Ari, his senior."

"Rockbell," she shook his hand and took a slight bow. "Winry Rockbell. And I'm not his girlfriend." She protested back at Ari who was triumphant at making sport of his ever-serious junior classmate again.

"Never mind this idiot," Aldes replied back and pulled her by the hand. "Let's make our move already." The both of them were out of the area before Ari could realize they were gone.

"Hey _bouzu_," Winry spoke as they continued to walk down the corridor adorned with many decorations of Ishbal religious art. "What temple rules was your friend referring to?" She continued to admire the corridor which was rather beautiful.

"No non-Ishbalan may enter this temple," he answered her back, closing his eyes as he walked along the corridor. "That is the strictest rule of our religion."

"Aren't you already breaking that rule?"

"I have a valid reason to do so," he replied. "I need to see the master urgently."

"Who exactly is your master?" She questioned him which made him stop halfway. "You've been bringing me to some weird place, and you expect me to see your so-called master."

"His master, I presume?" She heard a much older voice from behind. Winry turned behind to see a much older man wearing a robe of unique colours that probably symbolized his wisdom. "I believe that you're his so-called Western acquaintance."

"Good afternoon, master," Aldes knelt on the floor and prostrated before him. One eye opened to look at a stunned Winry. "Get down on the floor too," he whispered to her in a sharp tone audible enough for her to hear. She was about to kneel on the ground when the master stopped her from doing so.

"You're not an Ishbalan," he advised. "It is not advisable for you to follow our regulations and customs. And you do have an aura repulsive to our people too." She was more stunned at his sudden crude remarks about her.

"Are you saying I shouldn't be here?" She retorted back angrily.

"That is actually right," the master answered back. "You're not supposed to be inside the temple in actual fact. But…"

"But what?"

"I believe you have a problem with the forbidden arts," he spoke out. "You had some contact with the exiles that came back here illegally." She remained silent, eager to listen to more of what he had to say.

"We call it alchemy," she remarked. "Back in my home country." As soon as she had mentioned the word alchemy, pictures of Ed and Al's alchemic transmutations began to form in her mind and the horror she had saw in the past, that of the failed human transmutation which took away Al's body and Ed's body parts.

"Something on your mind?" The master questioned her.

"Human transmutation…" she subconsciously blurted the words out, which was alien to Aldes of course. "Does the Philosopher's Stone exist…?" She was suddenly in a trancelike state, remembering much of what Ed had told her in the past.

"These…" the master was a little repulsive of what she had mentioned. "…are the forbidden items of the forbidden arts. The truth about them should never be known." He replied back to her, who had regained her senses again.

"Yesterday," she took a gulp and gathered her courage to speak. "I was able to manipulate the materials of the floor and turn it into a different item." She lowered her head. "By doing this," Winry clapped her hands together. "And by doing this next." She slammed her hands across the wall, in which the wall formed a large block protruding from it. "What's the meaning of this?"

"No medium for doing the forbidden art?" He was stunned at what had just happened. "Not even painting your body with the pattern?" Winry was suddenly surprised at what he had said. After all, she had always known that a transmutation circle was always important to manipulate the shape of an object.

"Did you have any knowledge of it beforehand?" Winry shook her head as a response to his question.

"In that case," the master continued. "You'll have to leave Ishbal as an exile, for we do not welcome people who practice the forbidden arts."

"Thank you," she gave a bow before turning to Aldes. "I suppose I'll be leaving here for Amestris, back to my hometown." She continued to walk for a moment.

"Wait!"

Winry turned behind to see him going up to her. "Return back to the house," he told her solemnly. "It is difficult to head west now since this season is rather dry…" She only gave him a smile and walked off.

----------------------------------------------------------

The Rockbell took small steps as she left the steps of the temple, which was made of a strange type of stone. Holding her headscarf together to keep it in place, she walked ahead to see the street below where the people went about their daily lives.

"Rockbell!" She heard a voice from behind sound. Turning to see the familiar voice, Aldes was rushing at her. "I forgot…do you know how to return home?" He was panting from the run he had taken to come out of the large temple.

"Thank you for your work, young one," both of them heard a voice that sudden came from the dark figure appearing near them. "I'll take the girl from here now."

"Be gone, exile!" Aldes shouted to the sinister woman. "Why do you come to torment Winry?" The woman gave a slight laugh for a moment.

"You're so attached to the Ishbal," she spoke as she grabbed hold of Winry's hand firmly. "I shall give you a curse then." Taking two fingers, she began to chant a series of strange words incomprehensible to both him and Winry. A white glow appeared suddenly as it shot and flew through Aldes' head. He collapsed on the floor and coughed profusely.

"Stop, what're you doing to him?" She questioned the exile. "He's only a child!" She pleaded with the woman. Winry noticed that nobody was responding to the sudden actions that were happening around. "What did you do to everyone here?"

"Nobody needs to know anything," she replied back with a firm and evil tone. "I've just placed a curse on him. He shall someday be associated with alchemy, no matter what." A grin formed over her face. "And of course, Ms Winry," she turned back to look at the Rockbell. "I'll need your help in this."

Winry's eyes saw a certain dark stone held in the woman's hand which made her insides react vigourously. She was beginning to feel sick and watch as Aldes continued to cough violently on the floor. Winry was beginning to feel nauseous and sleepy as her eyes saw a cyan glow before blacking out.

It probably felt like a long time she was unconscious. She reopened her eyes to see that she was lying on the cold hard floor of a certain house. The furniture around were broken, with splinters lying around. It was only one room, with a firm-looking wooden door that stood in the only doorway. An oil lamp was lit on one table that only served to light up the entire room. Getting up from her sudden blackout, she turned around surprised to see that she had not been bound by the exile woman.

"Shouldn't they be tying me up or something like that?" Winry questioned herself as she looked at her own two hands. It was rather peculiar that she had not been tied up at all since she was probably a hostage. She walked to the doorway, preparing to open it when the wooden door suddenly flung open.

"Oh, you're awake?" A woman about forty was in front of her. She wore a scarf to cover her head too, which implied her race as an Ishbalan. Winry sat down on one of the broken chairs, knowing that she had somehow been staying in Ishbal all the while. "I found you unconscious around the back of my house."

"Unconscious?" Winry was confused at the woman's words. For all of this time, she had always been found unconscious and each time someone different would always find her and give her free lodging. It was too good to be true. After all, nobody would really give free lodging out of goodwill. "What's your motive?" She stood up, determined to get an answer.

"We Ishbalans do not leave people out in the streets cold and hungry," the woman replied back and taking her scarf off. "It's cold tonight. Please cover yourself with a blanket." She took Winry by the hand and led her to her own bed.

"Madam," Winry questioned her again. "Was there some evil dark figure with me when I was unconscious?" The woman turned to look at her with surprise, and shook her head next.

"You were alone," came the quick reply. "Nobody was with you when you were found unconscious. Thank Ishabala you're not dead. The surroundings can be hot in the day that one can die of heat stroke simply."

"I've been sleeping since daytime?"

"Yes," the woman answered back. "I suppose you were too tired."

"Is this place Ishbal still?"

"The temple's in the distance," the woman gave her an indirect answer. "But you shouldn't go out there since you're an outsider after all." She led Winry who had crept onto the soft bed. "Your clothes look tattered though," she pointed to the Rockbell's Ishbalan clothing that had been torn as a result of the rough grains of sands frequently blown by the strong winds of the region. "Do you know anyone here?"

"I…I…" she tried to reply, with her mind filled with short pictures of Aldes. "…I know a certain someone here recently…He's from the temple though…" She looked back at the woman.

"I'll help you tomorrow," the woman replied back to her kindly. Tucking Winry into bed, she gave a quick smile, making Winry notice the light brown hair the woman had. The only common feature was that of the spinster's red eyes that showed her Ishbalan lineage.

Winry closed her eyes once more, with plans of finding a way out of the mess she was in. The moon was in a crescent shape. Her eyes opened abruptly to look at the moon. It was in a crescent shape no doubt. And it was even stranger for just two nights to pass before the moon could become from a full shape to that of a crescent one.

She badly needed answers for the crazy predicament she was in, especially that if she had once again transcended time again. The Rockbell only desired to be free of all problems and to return to her warm family home with her grandmother in Reseembool.

Meanwhile, the crescent moon continued to shine over the city of Ishbal with the dim lights lighting up each stone house. There was something however that was going to happen soon, real soon. And Winry had a feeling she would meet someone very soon.

**END OF JOURNEY THREE**

Well...I really have nothing much to say anyway. Please look forward to the next chapter!


End file.
